Story By Donald Campbell

This week marked the final week of instruction before Christmas break for the Fort Payne City School System, and the principal for one campus decided to bring some fun to her students in celebration.

The festivities at Wills Valley Elementary School actual began the previous week, according to Principal Jennifer List, with the playing of Christmas music at the front entrance when students arrive for the day. But she really elevated the celebrations this week, surprising not only her students, but teachers as well. When students arrived at the Wills Valley campus Monday morning, List could be found sitting near the office, dressed as an Elf on the Shelf. She also was out in front of the school, greeting students as parents dropped them off.

“This is my first year as the principal here, and this is my first time doing something like this,” List said. “The idea for doing this came to me from a friend of mine in Ohio, who does this sort of thing.”

While this may be the first time List has dressed as an Elf on the Shelf, she has decked herself out in various forms of holiday attire in the past year while an administrator at both Little Ridge Intermediate School and Fort Payne Middle School. Knowing that many of the students at Wills Valley likely have their own elf at home, and with some of the school’s teachers having one in their classroom, it seemed logical to List to dress like one herself. Not only did students and staff both enjoy her dressing up on Monday, but parents have also expressed their appreciation. For example, List said she was in a store Monday evening and ran into one of her students, who started telling their mother about the principal dressing as Elf on the Shelf to welcome them to school. The student’s mother thought that was a great idea and enjoyed seeing photos of List in her outfit.

However, there were more things planned for the final week of the semester. Thanks to efforts from both the City of Fort Payne and Fort Payne Main Street, Wills Valley students have been able to take a trip to the DeKalb Theater downtown and enjoy a special screening of the 2004 film “The Polar Express.” There were also opportunities to enjoy hot chocolate on the train caboose in the Wills Valley cafeteria, and on Friday, the first-graders were set to wear festive shirts they had made in class earlier in the year and take part in a special parade around the school.

“This is a great time to bring some cheer to our students,” List said. “It can be tricky to balance both classroom instruction and fun before the break, but we do enjoy bringing cheer.”